"Nathan, what are you doing?"

I looked at Nami, giving her a look from underneath the layers of coats I had thrown on.

"I'm cold! What do you want from me!" Plus, the weather was going to drive my chilblains crazy.

"Not to use a third of our winter gear, Nathan!" Nami shouted, grabbing at one of my coats. "Is this Zoro's?"

"He's not using it!"

"Oh, he's about to!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

On one hand, I lost another layer of protection against the biting cold. On the other hand? Watching Nami force Zoro into wearing a jacket was an amusing thing to witness. It reminded me of how my mom had to make my brother wear his jacket consistently.

And now I was homesick. I hadn't seen one of those fights since my brother went off to college, just a few years after I went to college myself. Still, I watched as we approached the island. It's kinda a shame we had to come here while Thomas was sick, and us already on a timer with Vivi.

Sure, as far as I was concerned, this place was cold enough to freeze fire, but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate the beauty of such a place. It was majestic despite how absolutely freezing it was.

The snow, the mountains. God the mountains. Was there not a part of the Grand Line that didn't have, well, I couldn't say that. Little Garden was fairly normal topography wise. They were glorious and massive. Standing as mountains should.

What shouldn't have been where the massive pillars arose from them. They somewhat reminded of the Devil's Tower, a large hunk of igneous rock that had become exposed. But the tower was isolated. These weren't several of them rising, scraping the sky, emerging from the mountain range. They showed nearly no signs of weathering, despite the icy cold being a sign that freeze-thaw erosion

It didn't make it hard to deduct what type I would be getting from the place. It may have been a context if rock had not already joined my arsenal, but it had. Ice would be the order of the day, and I was honestly okay with that. Ice was not good as a standalone type. It nearly had just as many weaknesses as bug or grass, but the only thing that was resisted by ice was ice.

Sure, offensively, ice was strong, able to abuse the weaknesses of numerous dragon types throughout the years, especially nightmares like Garchomp. But damn was it not defensively brittle on its own. I couldn't even think of a single mono-ice type that made it to the big leagues. At least, not for long. Maybe besides Galarian Darmanitan and it's busted abilities.

No, what made ice potent as a type was the secondary typing. And right now, I didn't exactly have a great spread. When it came to water and ice, I had the cream of the crop, as it was my best combination by far. Cloyster, provided I had water stone access, was incredibly bulky physically. Dewgong wasn't great, but it was better than Artovish. Lapris was sold. Fully evolved, plenty of bulk, well-rounded stats, well-rounded move pool. Spheal was a full line, and while I doubted I had Walrian, Sealeo wasn't bad. Iron Bundle was there in theory, but in practice? How much did a Paradox mon count? It was incredibly strong, that was no contest, as Paradox Pokémon were nearly on par with pseudo-legendaries when it came to stats.

But as the name suggested, Paradox Pokémon were weird. By all accounts, they didn't exist in the world of Pokémon. As much of a powerhouse, Iron Bundle could end up being.

For ice and bug I only had the Snom line, and while Frosmoth wasn't bad, as it was hard to consider anything that got Quiver Dance to be awful, it was a time-specific friendship evolution. And Snom, despite its cuteness, was not much stronger than Magikarp.

And for rock and ice? That would be the Amaura line, another time-locked evolution family. And as much I loved the line, with its Refrigerate Hyper Beams and Hyper Voice. It was defensively horrible. Quad weakness to fighting was never a good thing, and neither was one to steel.

In short, a lot of stuff that I wouldn't exactly like outside the water, and few things that wouldn't hold up in a fight, and the swarm of mono-ice types which weren't great. Frankly, did even of the ice types besides Spheal and Seal would be able to evolve at this point? I'm pretty sure most ice types didn't evolve until their mid to late thirties for the first time. And that's when they weren't stone evolutions!

Yeah, I was going to have to rely on the normal types if there was a fight.

Which there probably wasn't going to be! We were just here to find a doctor and once Thomas was patched up we'd hippity hoppity on off this island and onward towards Alabasta! And if what I'd heard about Alabasta was true? Easy, easy ground typing there. Which just opened up a whole lot of doors.

Hell, getting ice here opened the door for Mamoswine! An absolute monster heavy hitter that I was going to be useful no matter where the ground typing appeared on our journey.

"What exactly are you grinning about?" I blinked in surprise, Usopp's words snapping me out of my thoughts. He wasn't as bundled up as I was, but he was still shaking in the cold. It was more of a surprise that he could tell I was smiling under this.

"The type I'm getting from this island is going to be not too great right now, but useful later down the line," I smile. "And since we're just here to see a doctor, there's no reason for any fighting whatsoever!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

One of these days, I was going to remember that Murphy was a mind reader. Surrounding us on both cliff faces, flanking our ship were armed men. And they did not seem happy to see us. Then again, that was the case with armed men. Then again.

They also looked afraid. Which was much more in line with what I would normally expect to happen when pirates came a knocking.

I could do the paper or plastic trick. I imagine it would work for quite a while. But two things stopped me. The first was if I did take them off guard, the range was enough even if I closed, I would still get shot. They would have recovered by that point. The second was less tactical, but far more important.

I didn't want to fight them. This wasn't like Whiskey Peak, where we were lured in and ambushed under false pretenses. This wasn't like when we were attacked by those pirates earlier, who intended to do us harm, no matter what. These were just, people. People who wanted to defend their homes from the evil pirates.

And that's all this was. With the fact that there was clearly some form of coordination here making things more apparent. There was no way they would be able to guard every stretch of coastline. But they had clearly seen us coming, and with enough warning? This wasn't just organized, it was procedure.

They had done this before.

The gears in my mind began to turn. Those pirates. They were looking for an island. Was this the one? Was this what they were looking for? Then it would explain the organization. They'd dealt with pirate attacks before. Quite possibly regularly. Was this maybe a favored raiding spot of theirs, and they lost their means of pinpointing the island's exact location? It would explain why they were so ready, yet so jumpy. They were used to fighting someone else, and here comes a curve ball out of left field.

"I get it. We're pirates, and you guys are nervous. But one of our crewmates is sick. All we need is to take him to a doctor, and one he's better, we'll be out of your -"

BANG!

As Norris spoke, the wooden deck in front of her erupting in a shower of splinters. I jumped slightly, clamping down on the urge to transform into, anything, really. It certainly wouldn't help the situation turning into anything, especially something scary. If I had steel on tap, I would consider otherwise, if simply because could at least bounce a bullet or two.

"We get it, you're scared," I started, ignoring Vivi tackling Sanji to the ground. "But all we need is a doctor to help our crewmate. That's it. Once he's patch up, we'll be out of your hair!"

BANG!

"Shit on a stick!"

"Shut up and leave already!"

I take a slight step back, partially out of fear, and out of concern. There was no explosion of wood, meaning nothing impacted the deck. And there was no way in hell a missed shot would go anywhere else but the deck. I didn't feel anything.

Then I saw the blood. I saw Vivi.

Fuck, every piece of that noise so hard.

"No you don't!"

The next thing I felt as I began to transform was someone grabbing my head and slamming it onto the Merry's deck. Hard.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Sorry sorry sorry!" I kept a pack of snow against my forehead as Vivi fretted over me.

"It's fine, it's not like you intended to knock me out for a few minutes," I groaned, trying to keep the throbbing in my skull at a minimum. Thankfully, I didn't feel concussed. I'd already gone through the recovery for one of those, a minor one. And that had been enough to nearly drive me completely and utterly mad. When I had at least audiobooks as some measure of entertainment.

Here? I think I would very well go mad.

It really confirmed just how squishy I was if Vivi was able to lay me out. Midway through a transformation at that. I never considered that as a possible problem, but I at least knew to keep an eye out for it now. Still, I know why she did it. I lost my cool, and easily could have gotten us hurt, or worse. And what exactly would happen to Thomas then?

Oh right. He'd die. And his condition was getting worse.

So I might be nursing a headache for a few hours, or a few days, but that was a small price to pay. I doubted anything I had was bulletproof at the minute, and something scary would be large enough to be an easier-to-hit target. And it would have just gotten me shot at. Zoro had decided to stay behind on the ship, largely as a guard detail to make sure nothing happened, alongside Karoo. I felt bad for the poor duck, as he certainly wasn't built with this type of weather in mind. It was safer for him on the ship.

As for myself? I was used to the weather being bipolar and off their meds, but I didn't like the cold. And this island was cold. When Vivi called it a winter island, she wasn't kidding. Everything was cold and bitter, and I hated every second of it.

"Don't forget to bow, it's mountaineering tradition," in the least pirate thing I think I've done yet, I did as instructed, only for my brain to finally unfreeze itself to allow me to process the rest of the context.

That was a bear. With a walking stick.

Yeah, that was enough for me to just, fall over into the snow. Usopp was there too, so that bear wasn't just a pain-induced hallucination.

Joy.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The village was what I expected it to be. Small and quant, like an isolated town in the mountains. I was chattering, teeth clacking together against the cold. My chilblains were going to be a bastard after this, no matter how much it was worth it. Thankfully, Norris was carrying Thomas on her back, a task she made look easy.

Still, I did keep my ear out. Having only a single doctor on the island concerned me considerably. This was by no means a small one, either. That just sounded like a nightmare waiting to happen. Little Garden this wasn't, but if there weren't something around here that could take someone's head off, I would eat a hat.

But the talk of elections was, interesting. Especially as the man leading us did not feel worthy of the honor. Which by my book was generally a good sign. Generally, it's the people who didn't want power were by and large the ones I would trust more with it. More specifically, because I didn't care for repeats of that one incident where someone completely unqualified was chosen as Pope because he broke into the room where Cardinals were trying to select a new Pope, and they liked the cut of his jib.

Or they did it perfectly aware that he would shoot himself in the foot, I honestly don't know.

It didn't take too much longer to arrive at the man's house, where I was at least able to shed a layer of clothing. Usopp and Luffy were still out playing in the snow but the room was still packed. Sanji, Norris, Nami, Vivi, and I, with Thomas on the bed, breathing heavily, face flushed.

Then there was our host. I didn't think I'd meet someone taller than Norris in my life, as she was easily past six foot, even taller than my younger brother and aunt. But he was even bigger. He surprisingly had armor, which looked somewhat akin to plate, which was strange given the cold. The chest piece was wrapped in green leather and fur, so that had to go a long way to provide insulation.

"Sorry, I have not introduced myself. My name is Dalton, and I'm the protector of this island," a task the man took seriously. An island without a name, he had said. Something I called bull on. Privately, of course. Come on, even Little Garden had a name! And we truly couldn't have been the first people to find this place. If we could understand them, then their being truly isolated was impossible.

I shook my head. We had way more pressing matters than whatever local politics were happening here.

The fire had been lit, and I was just getting finished with taking Thomas's temperature and.

Oh. That's. Bad.

"It's 104 degrees," I scowled. It was probably higher if it weren't for the tick and the blood loss. Any higher by itself was putting it into hospital range. "We need to get to that doctor as soon as possible."

We knew enough to narrow down the problems. We just needed the doctor.

"Do you see the mountains out the window?" Dalton spoke, as I turned toward the window, bitting down on my tongue as I did so. Were the two of them building snowmen out there? I could see Nami's eyebrow twitching. In time with Norris's at that. Usopp's craftsmanship was masterful as always, but now was not the time for it.

Still, I let Sanji and Norris deal with the obstructions. Sanji because he was already out the door, and Norris because she looked as if she wanted to hit something.

It didn't take long for Usopp and Luffy to be drawn back inside, the snowman and the snowmonster were unfortunately destroyed. But we did get a view of what they called the Drum Rockies. Drum was accurate, as they did have a resemblance to giant, rocky drums. Hourglasses may have been a better word for them, but I could see where they got drums.

The strangest thing was, one of them, the tallest visually, whether from the actual size or just distance playing its usual trick on my eyes rested a castle. An impressive one, at that.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"The only doctor in this country, Dr. Kureha, lives there," Dalton explained, as I frowned. That was an incredibly isolated location, far from the best for a doctor to live.

"Please tell me you have something that can fly, Nathan," Norris gave me a look of desperation. Not that I blamed her. I couldn't see an easy path to the top. I couldn't see a way up period that didn't involve climbing. And climbing something like that would be difficult on a good day.

"I'll try," I say, stretching. "But I can't make any promises."

Even if I could do Frosmoth, I was unsure if it was large or strong enough to carry a full-grown man to such heights.

But I had to at least try. For Thomas.

Come on, I just needed Frosmoth. To at least try. I shifted, body shrinking down. By the end, I didn't think I needed to open my eyes or my mouth. But I did so anyway.

"Snom."

"That's, not going to be helpful," I think it was Sanji that spoke, looking down at my tiny form.

"An insect Zoan? That is, interesting," I think it was Dalton that spoke. God, ears in this former were weird. It was like hearing everything through a filter. Yeah, it was time to drop this form. Snom was useless. It could do a damn, why is Luffy grabbing me?

The nightmare ride was over fairly quickly, with me taking great care not to do something that would damage whatever surface I was on. It felt somewhat curved, and, was I on Thomas's head?

Was my Captain using me as a sapient ice pack? I shifted slightly, as a content sigh escaped Thomas's unconscious lips.

Oh god, he was using me as a sapient ice pack. Well, I guess I was staying here.

"Well, if that's not going to work, what do we need to do to get her down here?" Nami said. The way she was speaking made it sound as if she was crossing her arms.

"We don't have any means to contact her," Dalton said, something that set off alarm bells in my head. One doctor for an entire country and they didn't even have a way to reach her in case of an emergency? What type of hack system is that? "While her skills as a doctor are without compare, she's a bit of an eccentric. She's nearly a hundred and forty."

A hundred and forty? As in years? No way. There is no way in hell that anyone would be able to live anywhere near that long. How does someone get to be a hundred and forty! There's just no way that is possible!

"What do people do if they get sick or injured?" Vivi cried out, echoing my thoughts exactly. Though the second mystery was how did she get down. Climbing that thing would be bad on a good day, and that was before someone who was over a hundred and a doctor.

"She comes down the mountain whenever she pleases," Dalton explains. "Then she looks for patients, treats them, then takes whatever she wants as compensation, then goes home."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Doctors did need to make money, but the fact there was no way to get in touch with her, no easy path to reach her, then she just comes down and does whatever, then leaves again? That I didn't like. It also did nothing to explain how she got up and down the mountain.

"How does she get down the mountain then?" Thank you, Vivi, for asking the important questions while I was being used as an ice pack that couldn't speak English.

"It sounds odd, but I've heard that one moonlight night, she rides a sleigh through the sky, and comes down the mountain," Dalton said. So she was gender bent Santa Claus who delivered medicine instead of presents, and expected compensation for her efforts. She sounded like quite the character.

I kinda tuned out the rest. Usopp's voice filtered through, somewhat panicked, which could mean just about anything. I was still trying to adapt to where on the Ussop scale was the point that I should get worried. Something about an abominable snowman? They had those here?

Actually, that wouldn't be a surprise. They had dinosaurs on this planet, anything was on the table.

Then I felt a tapping, as I turned my eyes upward.

"Thomas, can you hear me?" Luffy loomed over both of us, lightly tapping Thomas's face. Underneath me, I felt his face shift, his eyes opening slightly. "Listen, the only doctor around here lives on top of a mountain. So we're going to climb it."

Never before have I wanted to dope slap a man made of rubber in my entire life. But I lacked opposable limbs. The room largely erupted into shouting in short order. I would have joined them too, but a cute bug going Snom over and over doesn't drive a point home like it should.

"That sounds like a great idea, Captain," Thomas's voice came out from under me, cutting through the argument like a knife. God, this was such a stupid idea. I didn't like the idea of waiting, but climbing that thing was going to get someone hurt. Or worse.

"I'm coming with you," Norris crossed her arms, and even I could tell her face was serious. There was no hesitation in her words, as I felt a hand suddenly reach up and pat me.

"Is that, Nathan?" Thomas asked, seemingly confused, ruffling his fingers along the grooves of my back.

"Snom."

"Why?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The team was set. Norris, Luffy, and Sanji were going to take Thomas up the mountain to see the doctor Santa lady. I would have liked to join them, but it was, what, three out of our four strongest members taking Thomas? I was just going to slow them down by this point. They would be fine.

"Please tell me the flesh-eating rabbits were a joke," I wrap my arms around my body, trying to ward off the cold. Unsuccessfully, as to be expected. Dalton just gave me a look. Because, of course, there were flesh-eating rabbits. Still, they'd be fine. So long as it wasn't that one rabbit from Monty Python. That thing was nasty.

Still, that left four of us. Nami, Usopp, Vivi, and I. They would be fine. I was probably the closest thing to help and even then, despite normal types being pretty decent overall, that was still a maybe. I certainly wouldn't easily be able to get up that mountain. I mean, if I had access to that one evolution of that Sneasel region variant from the Legends game, what was its name again? Sneasler or something like that? If I had that, it would be a completely different story, but I didn't even have half the types for a Pokémon like that.

But I didn't. Plus, Norris was the one carrying Thomas, which freed Luffy up for a fight if necessary.

Dalton nodded as the four faded into the distance, heading towards the door to his home, pushing the door open "What's the matter? The four of you should come inside."

Under most circumstances, I would jump at the offer. Anything to get my feet out of the cold, even a little bit. But nobody else was moving, despite their discomfort.

"That's alright. I'll stay out here for a little while longer," Vivi said, despite her shaking frame. I nodded, as everyone else made their affirmations. Dalton paused for a brief moment, before sitting down in the snow.

"Then I will keep you company," the man said, seeming to look wistfully into the distance. "A long time ago, we used to have doctors. But circumstances caused them all to leave."

The chill seemed to leave my body, interest taking over physical discomfort.

"Only a few months ago, this country was defeated by pirates!" Dalton continued.

"Given how jumpy you guys were, I imagined that was the case," I nodded, eying Nami as she scratched her chin as if lost in thought. I had to wonder if she was thinking the same thing I was. About how the pirates we had defeated were the very same ones that attacked this country before.

"There were only five pirates," well, apparently they weren't the pirates we'd defeated then. But five? Only five? What type of monsters were they? Five people fighting a nation and the five people won? What type of nonsense is that! "Their Captain called himself Blackbeard. We didn't stand a chance. We were defeated before we knew what was happening."

Blackbeard. Blackbeard. That name sounded, familiar. I'd heard that name before. Wasn't he a pirate?

"I've heard of the name, though it's unlikely to be the same man that attacked your country," I said, somewhat to myself.

"Really? You hardly knew anything about any important pirate, including Gold Roger," Nami crossed her arms, giving me a look. "How would you know who this guy is?"

"Because it likely isn't the same guy. The Blackbeard I remember died," I tried to do some rough mental math. "Anywhere from two to four centuries ago. And all he was really known for was sticking matches into his beard for intimidation." At least, as far as I knew. Piracy was never really my thing. My naval experience largely stopped and ended with the phase between pre-dreads and battleships that threw shells that weighed as much as cars at enemy ships.

"No, that does not sound like him," Dalton admitted, frowning slightly. "Though some think such a defeat was a blessing in disguise."

How? I wasn't under any illusions that we, as a group, were anything less than very abnormal pirates. The only time I'd seen use loot anything was when we were attacked first. Everyone seemed to be fairly, ethically normal. Like I wouldn't trust Nami with my money unattended, but that was the worst I had to say about this crew.

"What good can come from a country being defeated!" Vivi shouted, looking very confused by this mess.

I bit down on my lip. If leadership was cruel, incompetent, or worse, both? I can see why someone would think that, even as a silver lining of sorts.

"Until then, the land was ruled by a King, and the people were very unhappy," Dalton continued, as I began to put the pieces together. That would explain the elections. After the failure of the old government to keep people safe, they were giving a new system a shot. "The King's name was Wapol, and he was the worst King we've ever had!"

"Wapol!" All of us shouted, my hand going up to my chest, a brief wince of pain going through the wound. Nami and I shared a look as Usopp boasted of driving him away.

The fact that Wapol was even close was problematic. If he was looking for this place, then he likely wanted to install himself as king again. And with his castle being where the only doctor in the country was holed up at? Where half our crew was heading towards?

If it wasn't our business already, as Wapol seemed like the type to hold a grudge, then that alone would make it be. Sure, Luffy knocked the man quite a ways, but that could have put them closer to the island.

"So those men on the ship were soldiers that the pirates defeated and drove off the island?" Vivi asked, frowning slightly, with the scowl on Dalton's face growing with every word.

"Defeated!" He sounded disgusted at even the thought. "What a joke. Wapol's army didn't even try to fight the pirates! When they saw the strength of the pirates, they abandoned this nation like rats on a sinking ship!"

Wow. I didn't think my opinion could get any lower than it already was. And this was the man who shot me in the chest with a cannon!

"How could a King do such a thing!" Vivi shouted angrily. "For a King to abandon his people!"

She was disgusted by the prospect. Not just disgusted, offended by the idea that a King would abandon his subjects so easily.

The unfortunate truth about power was that power corrupted. Didn't have checks, didn't have someone to anchor you? You'd go crazy. Start doing things without thinking of the consequences because you forgot there were any.

I have Vivi a brief pat on the back. Her reaction only proved that she was a good person. I already knew that, but it was nice to see it reinforced.

Still, a country of peace. I really hoped they succeeded.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The wind was starting to pick up, as was the snowfall. Nami was looking up at the mountain, a bit concerned.

"They'll be fine," I said. They better be.

"I know, it's going to take a bit more than snow and wind to slow them down," Nami said, bundling herself further into her coat.

"It's more if Thomas's strength will keep up," Vivi sighed, worry written all over her face.

"Thomas is tough," tougher than me, at any rate. "He'll pull through."

"I just hope they won't encounter Lapins," Dalton frowned, slowly pushing himself up off the ground.

"Even if they're carnivorous, they're still just rabbits, right?" Usopp asked, as I frowned. I really doubted they were just flesh eating rabbits.

"Yes," that's a surprise. "Rabbits as big as bears with the quickness of rabbits that hunt in packs."

"That's, that's not a rabbit. That's not a rabbit at all!" I protested, very much mirroring Usopp's pale skin. It moves like a rabbit, hunts like a wolf, and yet is the size of a bear? No, that's just a new species that isn't even close to rabbit.

"They better be okay with things like that running around," Nami scowled, as the sound of crunching snow drew my attention. A woman was approaching us as Usopp bowed.

"Dalton! Dalton!" She said with a smile. I heard you're looking for the doctor! The witch is over in the next town!"

"WHAT!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There was a sled, but there was just one problem. Where were all the animals?

"Dalton, I'm sorry, but the goats are out to graze!" One of the farmhands explained. That wasn't good news. How were we supposed to get to the next town over if there was nothing to draw the sled?

"Well, we do have a solution to that problem," Nami said, a smug look on her face.

"And that is?" I crossed my arms, looking back at her, only to notice Vivi and Usopp were looking at me too. "What?"

"Come on, Nathan, I've taken a look through that book of yours. I know you have something that can pull the sleigh. Several, actually," Nami gave me a slight smirk as I twitched. She wanted to use me as a beast of burden? Oh, I didn't like that, I didn't like that at all. But.

"Just this once, because someone's life is in danger," I glared at them, making it abundently clear that the only reason I was doing this was specifically because Thomas's life was very much still in danger.

"How is turning into a bug going to help pull a sleigh?" Dalton gave me a puzzled look as I began to transform.

"Nathan's devil fruit can do a bit more than just bugs," Vivi said, as my hoofed feet dug into the snow and soil. A trio of tails whipped back and forth. Cold air rushed into my mouth, then out of my snout, condensing in the air like a fog.

"Tauros!"